It's not just blackouts: other delays that have affected sporting events

By Brandon Judd , Deseret News

Published: Monday, Feb. 4 2013 3:45 p.m. MST

Fans and members of the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers wait for power to return in the Superdome during an outage in the second half of the NFL Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday, Feb. 3, 2013, in New Orleans. (Associated Press)

Whether it's been sprinklers turning on at the wrong time, an earthquake disrupting the World Series, snow collapsing a stadium's roof or numerous power outages blacking out stadiums full of fans, outside forces have had their hands in delaying or cancelling sporting events.

Count the third-quarter power outage during Sunday's Super Bowl the latest in these series of unusual events.

Super Bowl XLVII between Baltimore and San Francisco was halted for more than 30 minutes when a power outage caused about half of the Superdome to go dark minutes after Jacoby Jones returned the second-half kickoff 108 yards for a touchdown to give the Ravens a 28-6 lead.

Eventually, power was restored and the game carried on. After the break, the 49ers nearly rallied from the 22-point deficit before falling 34-31.